Review of Grudge Match (2013) by Ajk D — 20 Apr 2014

Grudge Match a sports comedy film about two retired boxers played by Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone wanting to step in the ring to face against each other for one final match. The film has nothing to offer from its tedious story and a script of dull characters and dialogue.

The story is humbled with clichés and conveniences to even care for it. Especially, when Razor (Sylvester Stallone) is offered a job of $15,000 to provide a motion captures performance for a boxing video game until The Kid (Robert De Niro) shows causing a violent showdown. Razor is left with no choice but to continue what would lead to a grudge match of them both being in a final boxing fight after he loses his previous job. He needs the money to support his former trainer Louis (Alan Arkin) and to upgrade his house.

Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro felt like a waste of a performance and looks like it is one of those movies they had to do together playing retired boxers after there previous classic roles of being in Stallones Rocky and De Niro Raging Bull. Kevin Hart is still playing the same character as he does in previous movies like About Last Night or Ride Along. And Alan Arkin was just decent. Kim Basinger and Jon Bernthal characters were the simple cliché in the movie, as they had to make themselves known to The Kid and Razor. Jon Bernthal plays B.J. who is The Kids unknown son and Kim Basinger is Razor's ex love interest who cheated on him with The Kid and they both showed up 30 years later when they announced their grudge match. The movie is melodramatic that just clearly does not work, all thanks to a lazy script of dull characters.

Grudge Match fails to connect with the characters and a boring story that every character tries to be funny and dramatic. It is just a pure waste.